Keyhole guard



Dec. 11, 1928.

R. V. SAVAGE XEYHOLE GUARD Filed Oct. 21, 1927 .llllllll l mented 11,l928.

urrs STATES i tactics RALPH V. SAVAGE, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

KEYHQLE GUARD.

Application filed October 21, 1927. Serial No. 227,802.

lhis invention relates to improvements in guards for protectingkey-holes of doors or the like from tampering on the part of nefariousand unauthorized persons having designs upon the key fitting thekey-hole.

One of the objects of this invention isto provide a simple, eiiicientand inexpensive device of this character designed to prevent thethrusting of keys thru the key-hole of a door or the like as by theinsertion of an instrument thru the key-hole "from outside a house, forthe purpose of dislodging the key and in this way make it possible foranother key to enter the key-hole for the opening of the door.

A further object of this invention is to provide an eiiicient' key-holeguard characterized by the fact that it is capable of frustratingcompletely the designs of burglars, robbers or key-hole workers in thatthe novel guard will retain itself in position within the key-hole untilforcibly extracted thru the intervention of an authorized personoperating from inside the room.

Another object of this invention is to reduce to a minimum the number ofparts of a suitable key-hole guard for tie purpose of cheapening thecost of manufacture as well as for the purpose of facilitating thejuntaposition of the device relatively to the key hole of the door.

And a stillfurther object of my invention is to provide improved meanseffective for the purpose of permanent association with a key in that itclings at all times to the key whether or not the latter is in use.

a In carrying out the invention I have devised a resilient'sheet metalclip constructed and shaped to fit any size of key-hole; capae ble ofundergoing contraction for the purpose of being quickly inserted intothe keyhole; designed to be firmly secured in retained position byvirtue of its own resiliency and integral formation; and effective forthe purpose of stopping in inserted movement at a predeterminedinterval.

With the above and other objects in view my invention consists in thecombination, construction and arrangement of parts disclosed in thedrawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawings, wherein similar reference characters designate similarparts thruout the respective views,

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of my invention,

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof,

Figure 3 is a fragmental sectional detail view of a door showing itskey-hole and showing my key-hole guard in protecting position, the guardbeing viewed from outside the room in which the door is mounted,

Figure 4; is a cross-sectional view of my guard, taken on line B-B ofFigure 2,

Figure 5 is a top plan view of said guard, Figure 6 is a side elevationof the guard, and

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken thru the key-hole plate, showing akey equipped with my guard in protected position within the key-hole.

In the drawing, wherein similar reference characters designate similarparts, theguard is formed from a sheet metal strip or strap madepreferably of spring metal. This strip is folded or bent upon itself ina man nor to provide the medial circular or split collar, bead, or base12, and a pair of oppositely arranged resilient arms projectingoutwardly from the base 12 in a divergent manner, the arms beingdesignated 10 and 11; there is a space or slit 13 between the innermostplanes of the resilient arms 10 and 11, which is narrowed in the act ofsqueezing together the resilient arms 10 and 11.

This guard, it will be understood, is designed especially for use inconnection with the key-hole B of a door A or the like, and will be of acorresponding size. Upon one side of the guard a pair of narrow fins orflanges 15 and 16 respectively are formed integrally and longitudinallyoi"- the arms 10 and 11, extending in a plane at right angles to theedges thereof which are disposed on this side of the guard.

It will be understood that the flanges or fins 14 and 15 are formed bybending back the edges of the arms 10 and 11 of the key-hole guard.Complemental lugs 17 are punched 1 out of the arms 14 and 15 as at thepoints 17 Figure 6, these lugs being disposed preferably in angularposition relatively to the rightangular flanges or fins l t and 15, soas to leave a space 18, between fins and lugs, this space being of awidth to allow for inserting the appropriate plate 19 of a key-holehousing 20.

A key designated D has the usual lock tang engaging part or cam E. Byforcing the key shank between the resilient divergent arms 10 and 11 ofthe guard the shank will snap into the semicircular resilient base 12 oithe guard, and in this manner the guard will always remain securelyretained upon the key, if desired, so the guard will not readily be lostor become displaced from the key. This is an advantage since the smallsize of the guard may render it susceptible of being easily lost ormisplaced, so the base portion 12 of the guard lends itself forembracing positioning upon the key.

When it is now desired to secure the key in locked position and againstdisplacement from the key-hole B all it is necessary to do is to squeezethe arms 10 and 11 together until they assume a nearly parallelposition, against the tension of the coil or base 12; with the arms thusheld squeezed and collapsed, the operator proceeds to insert the guardinto the key-hole B, from inside the room, so the head 12 enters thecircular upper part of the keyhole, and the arms 10, 11 enter therectangular slot extension C of the key-hole B; the guard is thus shovedinto the keyhole under slight pressure, until the stop lugs 17 engagethe key-hole plate 19, as shown in Fig. 7 and thus prevent furtherforward movement of the guard; the operator new releases hold on theguard, and thereupon the coil base 12 relaxes, the arms 10 and 11, beingbehind the plate 19, are now free to snap back to divergent position,whereupon the fins 1 1, 15 Fig. 8, will overlap the plate 19, so theguard cannot be pushed out thru the key-hole, without grasping the partof the guard projecting outside the hole, squeezing the arms andreleasing the guard; as the cam E of the key bridges the arms 14, 15behind plate 19, it cannot be forced out of the key-hole.

What I claim and seek by Letters Patent 1s 1. A device for the purposedescribed consisting of a collapsible member having a part for enteringthe round hole of a keyhole, a part entering the stem of the key-holeand a part catching in back of the key-hole plate.

2. A key-hole guard composed of a col lapsible clip designed to hangupon a keyshank, and to enter the key-hole simultaneously with the key,and means 011 said clip automatically snapping in back of; the keyholeplate so as to overlap the latter to cause one part of the clip toproject in advance or" the key-hole and the other part to be removablyretained within the l-:ey-hole against forcible displacement.

3. A key-hole guard composei of a spring collapsible clip suspendableupon the key, and

having provision for entering the key-hole with the key, means limitingthe distance of entry of the clip within the key-hole to cause a partthereof to project in advance of the keyhole, and means on the clipengageable with the key-hole plate from within the keyhole forpreventing the direct rectilinear displacement of the clip thru thekey-hole.

1. In combination with a key, a device carried tiereby having armsdesigned to be collapsed for insertion into a key-hole, outturnedflanges on said arms designed to spread out under the resiliency of thedevice, Within a key-hole so as to engage in back of the keyhole plateand retain the device in position within the key-hole.

5. In combination with a ke a device carried thereby having armsdesigned to be collapsed for insertion into a key-hole, andintegralformations upon said arms automatically springing laterally whenpressure is removed from the device, so as to overlap opposite sides orthe key-hole plate, to firmly secure the device in position relativelyto the keyhole plate.

6. In combination with a key, a resilientclip having means of removablesupport upon the key, means undergoing contraction for insertion into akey-hole, against the resiliency of said clip, and means formed endwiseof the clip and designed upon insertion of the clip within the key-holeto snap into overlying position in back or" the key-hole plate.

7. In combination with a key-hole casing having a front plate formedwith key hole, a rey insertable into the key-hole, a clip having a splitcoil embracing the key shank and insertable into key-hole, and acollapsible spring catch engaging back of plate.

In witness whereof he has hereunder set his hand this thirteenth day ofSeptember, 1927.

R. V. SAVAGE.

